


sexts from the void

by radioactivesaltghoul



Series: prompts scavenged from places around the internet [1]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Flirting, Crack, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), No Pregnancy, Pen Pals, Sexting, follows TLJ and TROS with a heavy dose of TROS snark, more of a series of connected drabbles than anything, very short chapters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:06:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 15,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24327751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radioactivesaltghoul/pseuds/radioactivesaltghoul
Summary: The Force bond between Rey and Ben only allows them to communicate across time, space, and death by passing notes back and forth.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: prompts scavenged from places around the internet [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1757551
Comments: 369
Kudos: 119
Collections: Reylo Hidden Gems





	1. map it

**Author's Note:**

> hello and welcome to my newest "inspired by the internet, which is where i spend far too much of my time" au. there's a (abandoned) [twitter feed called Sexts from the Void](https://twitter.com/voidsexts) that speaks to my love of bizarre humor, so naturally when i remembered that it existed i started to plan a reylo au around some of those tweets.
> 
> chapters are short (500-1100 words). this is a canon-divergence fic, but it follows the events of TLJ and TROS, including That Scene. if that's not something you want to relive, i'll leave a note in the endnotes of that chapter. this isn't intentionally a TROS fix-it; i just wanted to write about canon rey and ben sending really awkward sexts back and forth across the force.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [sext: hey baby, wanna come back to my place and help me try to map it? bring lots of paper and if possible a weapon](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/322751934912163840)

Ahch-To was nothing like Rey had imagined it would be.

First of all, Luke refused to even entertain the notion of joining the fight against the evil First Order. Second of all, the Force had apparently seen it fit to turn her and Kylo Ren into galaxy-spanning pen pals, because she woke up one morning to find a small, unlabeled notebook sitting next to her head only to discover it was his journal.

The thing even came with its own pen. Rey stared at it, baffled. How the kriff had this ended up here?

As soon as she opened it and realized what she was looking at, she slammed it shut. She wasn’t sure how or why she’d gotten a hold of Kylo Ren’s journal, but she was pretty sure she should take it to Luke.

Or maybe back to the Resistance. There were no doubt many trade secrets contained within its covers.

Well, _someone_ had to vet it and make sure it actually held useful information. Rey sat down, pulled out a ration bar, and opened the journal. It was only about a quarter full of Kylo’s surprisingly beautiful penmanship.

> _The Supreme Leader says that soon I will be as strong as Lord Vader, but I still feel the pull to the light. I must meditate on Grandfather’s mask to tether myself to the dark once again._

Rey rolled her eyes. That was exactly the sort of nonsense she’d expected to find. If this journal only held musings on Kylo’s tug-of-war with the Force, it wasn’t going to be any help in the fight against the First Order.

She read on. There was nothing particularly interesting or helpful until the last few pages.

> _There has been an awakening in the Force._

> _I found it. I found her. She’s seen the map. I must interrogate her, but I must be careful. There is something familiar about her. I need to figure out what it is before the Supreme Leader does._

> _She’s so strong in the Force. To turn my own mind probe back on me? I don’t know whether I’m more humiliated or impressed._ ~~_She’s so beaut_ ~~ _No. She could be a strong asset if she were to train with me as my apprentice. That is all._

Rey’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief. She’d thought Kylo’s offer to “show her the ways of the Force,” whatever that meant, was a spur-of-the-moment attempt to get her to stop attacking him. Apparently, it was a premeditated thing.

> _Han Solo is here. I must be strong enough to break free from the light._

> _Starkiller Base is gone. The scavenger is gone. Han Solo is_ ~~_dead_ ~~ _gone and yet the light still exists inside of me. The Supreme Leader is so angry with me. I deserve it, for I am weak._

That was the final entry. The whole thing left Rey in a state of furious confusion. Before she could think too hard about it, she grabbed the pen and added an entry of her own.

> **_R: u murderous snake._ **

In retrospect, she shouldn’t have been surprised when the notebook vanished a moment later, only to reappear later on that morning after returning from checking any missed comms on the _Falcon._

> _K: Who is this?_
> 
> **_R: ur favorite jakku scavenger._ **
> 
> _K: Why is the Force connecting us? You and I._

Rey didn’t question how or why this was possible as she penned her furious response. 

> **_R: ur too late. u lost. i found skywalker._ **

As before, the journal vanished as soon as she put the pen down. Returning to wherever Kylo usually kept it, Rey supposed.

The reply was waiting for her later on after she returned from following Luke around all day.

> _K: Did he tell you what happened? The night I destroyed his temple, did he tell you why?_
> 
> **_R: i know everything i need to know about u_ **

And thus launched a series of back-and-forth notes in Kylo’s journal, the text growing more and more casual as it went on. Rey assumed that the conversation would fizzle out after the first few tense messages, but apparently Kylo liked getting the last word in as much as Rey did, because he kept responding.

> **_R: why did u hate ur father?_ **
> 
> _K: i didn’t hate him._
> 
> **_R: then why did u kill him? i don’t understand._ **
> 
> _K: of course u don’t. has skywalker told u what happened yet?_
> 
> **_R: yes. u destroyed his temple and turned to the dark side._ **
> 
> _K: no. he feared my power, as he no doubt fears urs. he stood over me while i slept and tried to kill me. ur strong in the force, rey. just like i am._
> 
> _K: good luck sleeping well tonight._

“Asshole,” Rey hissed, tossing the notebook to the side without writing a response. She didn’t want to believe it, but she knew with a bone-deep certainty that Kylo wasn’t lying. But if Kylo was telling the truth, that meant that Luke had lied.

Kriff this. She was going to see that cave that kept calling to her. Maybe that would tell her the truth, even if no one else would.

In the end, the cave held no more answers than anything else, and Rey found herself spilling her thoughts in Kylo’s journal.

> **_R: i thought id find answers here. i was wrong. ive never felt so alone._ **

The response was nearly instantaneous, almost as if he’d been waiting to hear from her.

> _K: ur not alone._
> 
> **_R: neither r u._ **
> 
> **_R:_** **_it isnt too late._**

Rey tried not to feel too disappointed when she received no immediate response and instead, she went about drying off and curling up next to the fire as she drifted off to sleep.

She woke up the next morning even more determined than before. She’d explain the situation to Luke. Make him see that there was still good in his nephew. And then they’d go and return to the Resistance and win the war and everything would work out in the end.

Kylo’s—or was it Ben now?—response was waiting for her in the morning.

> _K: hey baby, wanna come back to my place and help me try to map it? bring lots of paper and if possible a weapon._

Rey stared at the message. She wasn’t sure why he was calling her a child, but the blatant invitation to go invade the First Order and take them down from the inside was too enticing to resist. She picked up the pen and wrote down one last message:

> **_R: yes. im in. ill see u soon._ **


	2. tell our story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [sext: if any of us make it back, tell our story. people have to know. they have to know how fuckin sexy this was](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/257180919734087680)

Kylo hadn’t yet figured out the mechanism behind the strange connection he had with the scavenger, but he wasn’t stopping it. He’d been fascinated by her ever since that moment on Takodana. Not that he’d ever admit it to anyone, least of all her, but he was glad for the strange bond between them.

Even if it _did_ mean she had his journal with all his secret thoughts.

The fact that she was on her way to him was as unexpected as it was exciting. If she was willing to come to him, that meant she’d follow him into the dark side, right?

He was in his quarters, trying to figure out which identical all-black outfit would be best for their meetup, when the journal materialized again.

> **_R: im getting close. r u ready for this?_ **

_Was_ he ready? He needed a way to deflect Rey’s question.

> _K: the question is, r YOU ready?_

The journal disappeared, but there was no response from Rey.

No matter. He could feel her approaching like a lightning shock to the heart.

He could practically taste the anticipation as he marched down to the hangar where she’d be arriving, binders in hand. He didn’t _actually_ want to restrain her, but he had to at least look like he was considering it.

When her escape pod (he pointedly ignored the ‘Property of Han Solo’ label scrawled on it) landed, he felt a brief jolt of panic. What if he’d read the situation wrong? What if _she’d_ read the situation wrong? But when their eyes met as the door opened, he knew that she felt it, too.

Whatever _it_ was. He had yet to figure that part out.

Kylo was so overwhelmed at the sight of Rey amongst all of the First Order trappings that he didn’t even realize they were on their way to see the Supreme Leader until she said his birth name in the turbolift. When she turned to him, her expression was heated, and he could feel something sizzling between them. What _was_ that, anyway?

After that, it was all a blur of panic and attempting to quickly strategize (an area that Kylo had never been particularly strong in, having always preferred to shoot first and ask later). It wasn’t until Snoke had Rey on her knees in front of him that he saw his opportunity. “I know what I have to do,” he said, his eyes locked on Rey’s as she pleaded with him.

The moment the lightsaber cut through Snoke was the first time Kylo had ever felt truly free.

He and Rey made quick work of the Praetorian guard, working effortlessly together as if they’d been training together for years. It was intoxicating, the rush of energy he felt from fighting by Rey’s side.

He felt something _else_ as well. A tension low in his belly. A sudden appreciation for how beautiful Rey was amongst the slaughtered guards and burning throne room. And an awareness of exactly how tight his trousers were.

And that was how ~~Ben So~~ Kylo Ren, at the tender age of 29, experienced his sexual awakening.

_Okay, Kylo,_ he told himself. _Be cool be cool be cool. Convince her to stay here and rule the galaxy by your side._ “You come from nothing,” he told her. “You’re nothing. But not to me. Join me. Please.”

_Nailed it,_ he thought.

To his surprise, Rey completely misunderstood his intentions, leading them into another fight ending in an explosion. When he came to, she was gone, leaving the journal in her place.

Well, fuck. That hadn’t gone according to plan _at all_ , but at least he got a pretty sweet promotion out of it.

He stuck the journal in the pocket of his cape, mentally composing his next message to her. There were so many things he wanted to say, but there wasn’t enough time to write them all down. Considering how quickly the First Order was scrambling to chase the Resistance down to the planet below, she must have been scrambling even faster to get back to them.

The words came to him as he was in his command ship on its way down to the surface of the planet.

> _K: if any of us make it back,_ _tell our story. people have to know. they have to know how fuckin sexy this was_

The First Order was victorious—as he knew they would be—but something felt _off_ about the whole thing. The journal hadn’t materialized again, but that wasn’t exactly surprising. There was a lot going on right now. Rey was probably still trying to get Snoke’s escape pod down to the battle-strewn surface of the planet.

Except that she wasn’t, he realized as he knelt on the floor of the abandoned base. He still couldn’t see her surroundings, but he _knew_ that she was slamming a door in his face. She’d broadcasted her intentions through the Force more clearly than anything he’d ever sensed from her.

The worst part, he felt, was the fact that the journal never materialized again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the throne room fight is the hottest thing in any star wars film change my mind


	3. sift through the rubble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [sext: hey baby, wanna come back to my place and help me sift through the rubble?](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/257282761784705025)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for whatever reason, ao3's text editor isn't playing nice with the formatting here (whether i edit the HTML directly or not), so forgive the weird spacing at the end.

The journal appeared and reappeared at random over the next few months. Rey refused to look at it every time she caught it peeking out from wherever the Force had seen fit to manifest it, which meant that any messages Kylo was sending her way were getting ignored. She had to be strong, she told herself. She couldn’t give into the temptation to open it up and see how he was doing.

Besides, she had plenty to keep her busy. Inexplicably, General Organa had taken it upon herself to train Rey in the Jedi arts, despite the fact that she’d made the decision long ago to put her focus on politics rather than the Force. But, as Rey knew very well, beggars couldn’t be choosers, and a teacher was a teacher. Desperate times—and they were very desperate, indeed—called for desperate measures.

Late one night about six months after the Battle of Crait, Rey was sitting around the makeshift bar the Resistance had set up on Ajan Kloss, partaking in a round of drinks with her fellow fighters. Poe had been the one to drag her out, but she’d only gone along with it because she knew it would make Finn and Rose happy. When she stumbled back to her quarters hours later, the journal was laying on her pillow.

“Oh, kriff,” Rey said, tears filling her eyes. She knew that it was just the Force playing tricks on her, but drunk logic said that it had been waiting for her to return. “Damn you, Force.” She flopped down on the cot and opened the journal, reading over all of the missed messages from Kylo.

> _K: rey. where r u. tell me._

> _K: the resistance will burn and u along with it._

> _K: wait, i didn’t mean that. come back. i promise this is not a ploy to learn where the resistance is hiding these days._

> _K: rey. we can work this out. come to me again. or i can come to u, we can work it out somehow_

> _K: well since u arent reading my messages anyway, i may as well confess that ruling the galaxy isnt quite what i thought it would be. things felt simpler when u were fighting by my side on the supremacy. was it as hot 4 u as it was 4 me?_

Rey felt her face heat up as she read the last message. She shouldn’t have been surprised that Kylo had also felt a little horny after that fight. They were, after all, mirrors in the Force. Or whatever. Rey couldn’t really wrap her mind around the metaphors the General kept using, and like hell was she going to discuss her conflicted feelings for the General’s _son_ with her.

If she had been sober, maybe she wouldn’t have picked up the pen. As it was, Sober Future Rey would eventually thank her for it.

> **_R: it was pretty hot, yah._ **

The journal vanished as soon as she put the pen down and reappeared almost immediately.

> _K: rey? r u ok?_
> 
> **_R: im drink. drank. there was correllian rum. im having a lot of feelings._ **
> 
> _K: i often have a lot of feelings._
> 
> **_R: i know._ **
> 
> _K: do u want to talk about it?_

Rey passed out before she could respond.

The next morning dawned bright and clear, and she found herself thanking the Force for granting her the ability to heal her own hangover as she took stock of the journal lying next to her pillow, still open to Kylo’s last message.

She bit her lip, debating how to proceed. Now that she’d started again, she didn’t want to stop messaging him. Deep down, she knew that there was still good left in Kylo, even if he was making stupid choices like leading a massive military organization on a crusade to turn the galaxy into the Galactic Empire v2.0.

> **_R: not right now. but maybe, eventually. how r u?_ **

She debated adding “i miss u,” but then decided that was too much too soon.

> _K: terrible, thanks 4 asking._

Despite herself, her heart went out to him. It couldn’t have been easy being Supreme Leader. If nothing else, she had to bring him back to her side simply to improve his mental well-being.

> **_R: i would say im sorry, but u know where i stand._ **
> 
> _K: i do. and i know._
> 
> _K: r we ever gonna talk about how hot that fight was?_

Rey glanced at a chrono. She didn’t really have time right now to be starting what had the potential to become a long, drawn-out conversation about feelings.

> **_R: we r_ ** , **_but not right now. i have to go do things. later?_ **

She didn’t get an immediate response, which was probably for the best.

The journal materialized again that evening as she was preparing for another round of drinking with her friends(?).

> _K: hey baby, wanna come back to my place and help me sift through the rubble?_

Why did he keep insisting on calling her ‘baby’? He’d made it very clear that he saw her as an adult. Did ‘baby’ have a different meaning outside of Jakku? She’d have to ask someone. Rose, maybe. She seemed like she’d answer without making Rey feel completely ignorant.

> **_R: r u inviting me over to ur fancy new command ship, supreme leader?_ **

She hoped that he heard the sarcasm in the words.

> _K: it could have been urs, but id rather not focus on that right now._
> 
> **_R: me either._ **
> 
> _K: do u want to see me, tho?_

Rey hesitated before admitting the truth to him.

> **_R: yes, i do._ **


	4. kill the mask

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [sext: hey baby, wanna come back to my place and help me kill the mask that floats above my bed so we can fool around in peace](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/343945530424049664)

Kylo thought that getting Rey to admit she wanted to see him would be the hard part, that she’d immediately rush to go to him as soon as she’d confessed it.

He was mistaken, as usual.

She’d admitted to wanting to see him much more quickly than he’d ever expected. Actually putting that desire into motion, however, was proving to be difficult.

> _K: i can give u my coordinates. ur always welcome here. id make sure u were safe from any errant stormtrooper blasts._
> 
> **_R: i still dont think its a good idea. whats the rush? we can still talk like this._ **

Kylo huffed in frustration. The truth was, there were a number of things he wanted to do with Rey that didn’t quite translate over text. Oh, sure, he’d heard of sexting, but he had no idea how to go about doing that. It was awkward trying to describe things he’d only seen on late-night HoloNet searches.

He spent all day thinking about a good response for that. By the time he was getting ready for bed, he decided that the only adequate response was the honest truth.

> _K: the rush is that theres only so much we can say over text. there are so many things i want to do with u—to u—and its a bit awkward to describe._

The journal disappeared, leaving Kylo with a pounding heart and a raging erection.

The response came as he was halfway through an elaborate sexual fantasy involving Rey and a creative use of lightsaber hilts.

> **_R: are there, now? id love to hear about some of these things._ **

Kylo was too worked-up to bother with a filter.

> _K: u wouldnt believe the thoughts i have about u. the things u might do at night. do u think of me the same way i think of u?_
> 
> **_R: u mean, late at night, with my hand down my pants? yes_ **

Kriff. _Kriff._ Why was it so difficult to write and jerk off at the same time?

> _K: and u dont want to turn those thoughts into actions?_

The journal reappeared moments later, the handwriting messier than usual. Kylo wondered if Rey was having the same difficulties multitasking.

> **_R: what does ur room even look like. ive seen ur thoughts. i know u have a thing for masks_ **

How the hell could she have known that he still had the pieces to his mask sitting in a drawer, waiting for the right moment to be repaired? Or was she referring to the fact that he still had his grandfather’s mask on a pedestal in his quarters? Either way, he had to do something to reassure her that he didn’t have some sort of weird mask fetish.

> _K: hey baby, wanna come back to my place and help me kill the mask that floats above my bed so we can fool around in peace_

There. Problem solved.

> **_R: ok. 1st of all. if. if i agree to meet u. im not setting foot on another first order ship. 2nd of all. why is ur mask alive._ **

It was unclear whether he should count this as a success or not. There were so many logistics involved in planning something like this. Being the Supreme Leader meant that he was the most powerful person in the galaxy, sure, but it also left him under a lot of scrutiny. He’d have to come up with a plan for sneaking out to a neutral third party planet in order to meet up with Rey.

(First step, he decided, was to figure out exactly which planets were considered “neutral third party planets.”)

> _K: the mask is not alive_ _and i do not have a thing for masks. where were u thinking of meeting?_

Desperation probably wasn’t a good color on him, but the sooner he and Rey could meet and work through this sexual frustration in person, the better.


	5. blankly / parts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [sext: i grab ur dick and stare at it blankly](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/337072445120995328) / [sext: whatever parts u got under there, i want them inside me](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/376527074733088768)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> double tweet feature because i couldn't make up my mind, oops

> _ K: pretend we’re together right now. what r u doing to me? _

Rey stared at Kylo’s latest message and bit her lip. There were a lot of things she wanted, but they were difficult to put in words. Oh, sure, she knew it had to be possible to describe those things in words, but whenever she tried to do it, her brain blanked out.

Well. Actually.

> **_R: i grab ur dick and stare at it blankly_ **

May as well be completely honest, right?

The journal disappeared. When it didn’t reappear again a few minutes later, Rey started to feel the sharp sting of nerves as she went through all of the possible reasons why Kylo could have decided not to reply. Best case scenario, he’d had Supreme Leader things to do. (The fact that she was considering “Kylo Ren doing Supreme Leader things” a best case scenario was something she was going to conveniently ignore.)

Worst case scenario, she’d said something totally weird and wrong and fucked it all up.

_ Shit, _ Rey thought.  _ I need a teacher. _

There was a bit of a lull in base activity at the moment. A number of Resistance members were off-world doing important, top-secret missions that Rey had not been invited on, seeing as she was focusing on “that Jedi stuff.” So maybe Finn and Poe weren’t around to ask for advice, but she did have one friend nearby who she trusted enough to ask for advice.

Rose Tico, hero and mechanic extraordinaire, could usually be found crawling around equipment. Rey sometimes picked up mechanic work in between Jedi training sessions. It was familiar, which made it considerably less frustrating than trying to reach out into the void of the Force in an attempt to contact past Jedi.

To Rey’s relief, Rose was the only mechanic in the hangar at the moment. Good. There would be no one around to overhear the conversation she was about to have.

“Hey, Rey,” Rose said as soon as she spotted the resident Jedi-slash-pilot-slash-mechanic. “Can you give me a boost? I’m having trouble reaching the sonic screwdriver top of this engine and I don’t want to have to drag a ladder over here.”

Rey nodded, then waved a hand to pull the tool down into Rose’s hands. “Thanks,” Rose said, beaming. “I could use a hand with this, if you have the time.”

They worked in silence for a few minutes as Rey struggled to figure out how to phrase the question. “Can I ask you for some advice?”

Rose didn’t pause in her engine repairs. “Sure, what’s up?”

“So,” Rey started. “I have a friend.”

“A friend? Is it me?” Rose teaseed.

Rey snorted. “No. This friend and I, we communicate by sending messages to each other.”

“What, like you comm each other a lot?”

“Something like that,” she said. “The thing is, we’re only able to communicate in these text messages right now. And we…” Kriff, why was this so hard to say? “We want to do things to each other.”

Rose was still examining the engine, but Rey could tell from her expression that she knew where this was going. “What kinds of things, Rey?” she asked in a tone that sounded far too gleeful for Rey’s comfort.

Rey’s face was on fire. “Sex things. But I’ve never—well, it wasn’t like there were a lot of options on Jakku, and this friend isn’t an active member of the Resistance, so we just haven’t had the time to— _ stop laughing. _ ”

“I’m sorry,” Rose said between guffaws. “I’m just thinking about how all of your Jedi predecessors must be rolling in their graves right now over the fact that the last Jedi in the galaxy is asking a mechanic for sex advice.”

Despite mortification of the entire situation, Rey could see the humor in it. Sort of. “I don’t know what to say. You know, in the messages to my friend.”

Rose put the screwdriver down and turned to Rey. “You can say no to any of these questions if you want,” she said. It was probably supposed to put Rey at ease; instead, she felt even more mortified than before. “Do you have specific things that you know you want to do with this person, or is this a general ‘how does sex work’ question?”

Rey thought about it. Her fantasies about Kylo mostly involved a lot of hand touching, but she did usually find a way to incorporate scenes from the few holoporn vids she’d come across in her years scavenging on Jakku. “I know some specific things,” she said, “but I don’t know how to talk about them in a way that sounds good.”

“Hmm,” Rose said, fidgeting with the screwdriver. “I know a HoloNet site or two that might be able to help.”

* * *

The journal materialized in Rey’s room later on with a new message from Kylo.

> _ K: that is...not quite the response i was hoping for. we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. _

Rey, fresh off of an evening of HoloNet research, knew exactly where to go from here.

> **_R: whatever parts u got under there, i want them inside me_ **


	6. rain drums against the window

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [sext: rain drums against the window as u stare helplessly at my bra clasp](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/381720750383980544)

Kylo took a deep breath, reread his latest message to Rey to check for typos (there were none, of course; his penmanship was flawless), then closed the journal, allowing the Force to whisk it away to the person at the other end of the Force bond.

> _ K: so it’s agreed? we’re meeting in one standard week on nar shaddaa? _

The journal reappeared a few minutes later with Rey’s response.

> **_R: looking forward to it :)_ **

Just one more week until they would meet in person and maybe carry out some of the things they’d written about. He still wasn’t completely sure about some of the thing Rey had said—using the words “blankly” and “ur dick” in the same sentence wasn’t the most erotic message—but they’d walk away from this encounter with a wider range of phrases to use in their messages in the future.

Hopefully, anyway.

It had taken them both weeks to figure out how to arrange a way they could both sneak away for a few days without drawing too much suspicion. Rey said that she’d given her cohorts an excuse about the Force that was complete banthashit, but Kylo had to be a little more subtle than that. True, the Force was regarded as a terrifying, mystical power that only he had access to in the First Order, but he still couldn’t simply use it as a catch-all excuse. Hux and some other high-ranking generals were circling like a bunch of sharks, and then there was the issue of those pesky Knights that Kylo hung around with…

In the weeks between agreeing to meet up and actually arranging it, the messages between Rey and Kylo had gotten more and more...raw. Vulnerable. Erotic.  _ Beautiful. _

(In another lifetime, Kylo thought he probably would have been a poet.)

Rey, he had been delighted to learn, was obsessed with rain.

> **_R: can u blame me? i grew up in the desert. of course i love rain._ **

The thought of what she must look like, running through a rainstorm, was utterly charming.

Kriff. It was official: Kylo Ren was head-over-heels in love.

The eve of their meetup had Kylo and Rey frantically scrawling messages back and forth as they both made their way to Nar Shaddaa.

What would she look like? Would she be dressed as she was the last time he saw her? Well, she probably wouldn’t be covered in so many scorch-marks. Kylo often felt that he would have liked a holo or two of her to look at late at night, but his imagination—in addition to Rey’s words—was generally vivid enough to get him off.

Still, he couldn’t resist the urge to ask the question.

> _ K: what r u wearing right now? _

The answer came back a minute later.

> **_R: why, what do u think im wearing?_ **

Kylo bit his lip, considering. Generally, when he thought about Rey, he didn’t think too much about what she was wearing. His primary goal was to get her naked. But now that she’d asked…

> _ K: i imagine u in those leggings u wore the last time i saw u. skin-tight, hugging the curves of ur ass perfectly. and u have ur arm wrappings, of course, but ur not wearing much else on top. a bra, i suppose. _

There was enough of a delay in Rey’s response that he started to wonder if he’d come on too strong. Or maybe she was offended? He cursed, wishing that he had the opportunity to expand on his thoughts without needing the journal.

Rey’s response, when it arrived, consisted of three words:

> **_R: whats a bra?_ **

She...she didn’t know what a bra was? Then that meant she— _ oh. _ The realization that Rey had never, ever worn a bra in his presence nearly made him come right then and there.

> _ K: it’s a type of undergarment people wear. to cover their breasts. _

Kriff, he was actually explaining the concept of a bra to the source of all of his sexual fantasies, wasn’t he?

> **_R: oh. r u wearing one?_ **

He looked down at his fully-clothed chest. It was a fair question, he supposed.

> _ K: no. men don’t usually wear them. _
> 
> **_R: oh. ok. well u have nice breasts, so i thought u might._ **
> 
> _ K: uh. thank u. i suppose it’s a relief that i don’t have to remove ur bra. u know, when we see each other tomorrow. _
> 
> **_R: haha :) u think it’s raining on nar shaddaa?_ **
> 
> _ K: does it matter? _
> 
> **_R: it does to me._ **
> 
> _ K: fine. yes.  _
> 
> **_R: rain drums against the window as u stare helplessly at my bra clasp_ **

He could practically hear Rey laughing at him through the journal.

> _ K: ok, fine, uve made ur point about the clothing. _

She didn’t leave him hanging for too long.

> **_R: for the record, im naked right now. so ur angsting about my clothing is unnecessary. can’t wait to see u tomorrow <3_ **

He didn’t know why Rey thought that tomorrow was less than three, but the sentiment was greatly appreciated all the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for the record, i was *this* close to writing kylo wearing the complicated bra


	7. distracted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [sext: ur too distracted by the orgasm to notice every cabinet door in ur house start to open](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/259947381720743937)

Sneaking away to Nar Shaddaa for a three day sex vacation with the Supreme Leader of the First Order was an incredibly risky move, but oh  _ wow _ was Rey glad she’d done it. They’d both agreed that they easily could have spent an entire month in bed together, learning new things about each others’ bodies.

Unfortunately, there was that whole pesky war thing, and Ben said that he had to take care of a few things in the First Order before their relationship could progress. “I’m in a position where I can do more damage if I stay, rather than leave with you right now,” he’d explained on the last night of their rendezvous.

Rey had to agree that it was the right thing to do, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. At least they still had the journal to pass back and forth over the Force. They now had things to reminisce on in addition to things to fantasize about, which was a wonderful thing in Rey’s eyes.

> _ B: i already miss morning sex with u _
> 
> **_R: what, u can’t get up without me?_ **
> 
> _ B: ha ha. i think u know the answer to that. _

Their messages weren’t all innuendos, however. As much as they both wanted to simply fuck and forget about everything else, they both carried the weight of the galaxy on their shoulders, and they had responsibilities outside of each other.

At the time, Rey had been in no rush to worry about anything other than finally seeing what Ben had been hiding under his high-waisted trousers. Kriff, what was it about him that made her so...so  _ horny _ all the time?

Neither of them had any past partners, so they didn’t have anything to compare their experience with each other to, but they’d agreed that the fact that they could feel an echo of what the other was feeling was Not Normal. “I could ask the Gen—” Rey had started to say when they’d discussed the phenomenon after their second go-around, but she stopped short when she saw the expression on Ben’s face. “Right,” she said, feeling her face heat up. “Bad idea.”

Ben, nerd that he was, said that he’d heard of people being bound in the Force, but nothing like what they had. Privately, Rey was rather pleased with this; she liked the idea that the two of them shared something that the galaxy had never seen before.

In the weeks after their illicit meeting on Nar Shaddaa, it almost became a game for them, a way for them to tease each other from across the galaxy. It was addictive; the fact that it was such a secret made it even more appealing to Rey, who had never gotten anything she’d really wanted before Ben.

Rey was locked in her cabin on the  _ Millennium Falcon _ , furiously masturbating while pretending to be napping. (Finn and Poe were flying the ship. They were capable of staying out of trouble. Mostly.) She had nearly worked herself into a somewhat satisfying orgasm thinking about Ben’s lips, but she immediately stopped when the journal materialized on the ground next to her bed.

> _ B: i swear to the force, i can feel u getting off right now. It’s distracting. _
> 
> **_R: im not sorry_ **
> 
> _ B: of course u aren’t _
> 
> **_R: shut up and let me get off, unless u plan on helping me out_ **

There was enough of a pause that Rey figured he was going to just leave her to her own devices. Logically, she knew that he was completely overwhelmed by his current mission to secretly destroy the First Order from the inside before finally breaking free, but it still felt like a tiny rejection.

Whatever. She’d found that the best way to handle it was to make herself come hard enough that he couldn’t ignore it.

Rey buried herself in a haze of fantasy and memory. She hovered right on the brink of orgasm, unable to focus on one particular thing for long enough to come until she noticed the journal materializing next to her. Knowing that it contained a new message from Ben was what tipped her over the edge. There was a commotion happening somewhere in the background, but she was too consumed by pleasure to pay it any attention.

As she came down from her high, she felt satisfied about the fact that she’d been able to make him feel her orgasm. The benefits of fucking someone you were linked to on a spiritual level, she supposed.

When her mind cleared enough for her to feel capable of processing text, she pulled the journal to her and read Ben’s latest message.

> _ B: ur too distracted by the orgasm to notice every cabinet door in ur house start to open _

Shit. Was that a thing that could happen? Rey’s head shot up as she took stock of the open drawers, bins, and cabinets all around her room.

Uh-oh.

If she was lucky, it was contained to her room. She quickly redressed, scrambling to look like she hadn’t just been furiously fucking herself, then darted out of her bunkroom just in time to walk straight into Finn.

“Are you okay?” he asked, examining her for injuries. “Something weird just happened. We didn’t do anything wrong to the ship, but the entire ship went haywire all of the sudden.”

_ Fuuuuuuuuck. _

“That—that was me,” Rey said, her voice sounding too high-pitched to her own ears. “I was, uh, meditating. You know, Force stuff. It was an accident.”

Finn gave her a look that said that he didn’t quite believe her. Either he’d decided that it wasn’t worth questioning her about, or he had enough of an idea to know that he didn’t want the full truth. Every once in a while, she got the sense that he knew more than he let on.

The nice thing about friendship, however, was the kind of trust that Rey had never experienced in the desert. “Well,” Finn replied, “as long as everything’s okay.”

The smile she gave him wasn’t even a little bit faked. “Everything is great.”

* * *

Ben got his revenge a few days later.

> **_R: i think ur orgasm just woke me up_ **
> 
> _ B: ur welcome _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they're not gonna bang on-screen in this fic. sorry.


	8. ok

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [sext: its going to be ok](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/216958250598416384)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *dumps more tros salt on the computer*

The day First Order intelligence—well, actually, just the Knights of Ren—confirmed that galactic history had been retconned was one of the worst days of Ben’s life.

Emperor Palpatine was alive. Somehow. It made about as much sense as Leia suddenly deciding to train Rey as a Jedi, but since when did sense factor into any of their plans?

Rey needed to know about this immediately. Ben still hadn’t put all of his plans into motion with the First Order, but if the ghost of Darth Sidious was floating around somewhere, they had to stand against it together.

The issue was, he wasn’t quite sure how to get the news to her. It didn’t feel quite right to drop “palpatine is alive, let’s go fight him” into their shared journal, especially given the fact that approximately 95% of the messages in that journal were sexual in nature. (The other 5% consisted of ways to imply feelings that they didn’t want to voice.)

They’d have to find a way to meet up in person again. Ben wanted to see her again more than anything (save the complete and utter destruction of the First Order), but this wasn’t exactly the scenario he’d imagined.

> _ B: i need to see you _
> 
> **_R: im sure u do_ **
> 
> _ B: i’m serious. something has happened. we can’t discuss it here. _

Ben swore he could feel her anxiety spike across the Force.

> **_R: well, now i’m worried. when and where do u want to meet?_ **

They agreed to meet on a neutral planet in two days’ time; it was the quickest they’d be able to reach someplace safe for both of them to meet.

He and Rey continued to pass messages back and forth as they raced to meet up again.

> **_R: i can tell it’s something bad. i can feel ur stress from here._ **
> 
> _ B: its going to be ok _
> 
> **_R: how do u know that?_ **
> 
> _ B: u know we’re the stuff made of legends, yeah? _
> 
> **_R: ok. but._ **
> 
> **_R: im scared_ **
> 
> _ B: its going to be ok _
> 
> _ B: hang in there. ill see u soon. just an hour and a half out now. _

* * *

It was a testament to how horrifying they both found the prospect of Emperor Palpatine being brought back from the dead so terrifying that they could barely think about sex.

“I don’t understand,” Rey said as the two of them lay side-by-side, crammed into the too-small motel bed. “Like, I know about the Empire and the Rebellion and all that. I just don’t understand why someone would bother to bring Palpatine back.”

“It makes no sense,” he agreed, “and yet here we are.”

They were both silent for a few minutes, lost in thought. “So what now?” Rey asked, finally breaking the silence.

“I think…” He paused long enough to feel Rey tense up in his arms. “I think he wants me to go to him. You know, because—”

“—he wants to repeat history?” she said, cutting him off.

“I was about to say, because I’ve spent most of the last few years channeling the dark side of the Force. Killing your mentor is Sith Lord 101.”

In response, she wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest as if she couldn’t hold him close enough. It was rather nice, Ben thought.

They lay there in silence, completely lost in thought. “I have a plan,” he told her. “Listen.”


	9. retake it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [sext: hey baby, wanna come back to my place and help me retake it](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/262888861552754689)

After he and Rey parted ways from their second illicit meetup (the topic of which was much less interesting than that of their first illicit meetup), Ben forced himself into a veneer of calm.

They had a plan. They were going to do this together. Rey had her part to do; he had to focus on his.

Rey had been adamant that he not travel to Exegol alone. It really said a lot about how much sway she had over him, because he hadn’t immediately turned and said, “Fuck this, I’m doing what I want.”

“We need to work together,” she’d told him as they lay curled up together.

Despite everything, he’d smiled. “I know.”

He hadn’t been able to keep the secret of Palpatine’s second life from the First Order, leading to a lot of rather frustrating back-and-forth between the senior officers.

“We should join forces with them,” one officer suggested. “Isn’t that what we’re here for, to resurrect the Empire?”

Ben rolled his eyes, grateful that he’d decided to start wearing the helmet again. (Rey had warned him that his face was too expressive, and it was probably for the best that he cover it up again. He’d initially been insulted, but she’d quickly made it crystal clear that she liked looking at his face whenever she had the chance, making this suggestion strategic rather than personal.)

“No!” someone else piped up. “They should be the ones bowing to us. We’re the  _ First _ Order, not the last!”

Kriff, why was he even bothering with this when he and Rey could be—

“Enough.” On his own, Ben was imposing enough to capture the attention of everyone in a room, but with the mask? Oh, it was so gratifying to watch how everyone shut the fuck up with one word from him. “We will not bow down to the Final Order. I will investigate the matter  _ personally _ . I have unfinished business with Emperor Palpatine, if he truly is alive.”

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t actually  _ Ben _ who had unfinished business with Palpatine so much as it was the entire Skywalker line, but that detail didn’t seem relevant right now. Less was more here, and anyway, it sounded more menacing if it was a personal beef he had with the not-so-dead Emperor.

Rey let him know through hastily scribbled notes that she was on schedule. (There was a distinct lack of information about his mother, although it was unclear who she was protecting by leaving that out.)

> **_R: are you ready yet?_ **

Finally, he was.

> _ B: hey baby, wanna come back to my place and help me retake it _

The First Order reached Exegol before the Resistance did, but Rey was already waiting in an old X-wing fighter when Ben’s TIE Silencer landed outside of the Sith citadel. Upon seeing her smile, he was struck by a sudden glimpse of an alternate timeline where he’d come here without her by his side.

It wasn’t a happy glimpse.

Ben mentally shook himself. Could-have-beens didn’t matter right now. Taking down Palpatine with Rey by his side, however, did.

“What is it?” Rey asked, eyes scanning his face for some sort of reaction.

He wasn’t sure which side of the family to blame for his sudden need for a moment of sentimentality. “Come here,” he said.

“Ben, we don’t have time for—”

He kissed her before she could finish the sentence, pouring as much emotion into the action as he could manage. It was brief—she was right, they really  _ didn’t _ have time for this—but when he saw Rey’s expression as he pulled away, he mentally high-fived himself for finding time to be romantic in the midst of stopping an evil Sith Lord from taking over the galaxy again.

“Come on,” he said, pulling out his lightsaber. (Like he’d get rid of it simply because he dropped the name ‘Kylo Ren.’ As if.) “Let’s go bring balance to the Force.


	10. terminal velocity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [sext: eventually, long after our tumbling forms have reached terminal velocity, the panic starts to fade, leaving only you and me, baby](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/238982057164943361)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you had a hard time with That Scene in TROS, you may want to pass on this, as it follows along that (but with a much happier/more sensible ending, i promise! 🧂🧂🧂)

The revelation that Rey was Emperor Palpatine’s granddaughter was the least of her concerns at the moment. It didn’t change anything for her. No matter whose blood flowed through her veins, it didn’t mean she was destined to fall to one side of the Force. Nor did it change the fact that her parents had sold her to Unkar Plutt, regardless of their questionably “good” intentions.

What mattered was this: here and now, she and Ben were fighting side-by-side, and nothing was going to tear them apart.

Ben had dispatched the Knights of Ren to find people to fight by the Resistance’s side under the mindset of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” He’d also done what he could to tear the First Order, sending the more loyal members to fight alongside the Knights of Ren (because again, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”). Rey hoped to the Force and all the stars above that they were winning the fight against the Final Order, because she and Ben had their hands full down here.

“Yes, that’s it,” Palpatine cackled. “Fill yourself with hate. Use it to destroy me, and bring about a new age of glory for the Sith Empire!”

_ Ugh, _ she thought.  _ Could you aim for at least a little bit of originality? _

“I’ll never be like you,” she vowed, mostly because that seemed to be what was expected of her.

Palpatine merely cackled some more. “Your coming together will be your undoing!”

Rey failed to see the logic in that. She and Ben were stronger together than any force in the galaxy. It was impossible to be filled with hate when she was side-by-side with someone she loved with her entire heart and soul.

She and Ben weathered Palpatine’s Force lightning together, turning their lightsabers into makeshift lightning rods. It actually looked pretty rad, especially when the lightsabers got overloaded with Force lightning energy and spat it back at Palpatine.

Well. Not completely. Rey was struck by a runaway bolt of Force lightning, strong enough to knock her down. She felt herself start to fade away as a door opened in her mind.

Rey had come close to death many times over the years. (Scavenging wasn’t exactly the safest profession, and then there was that whole war thing.) But she’d never come so close that she’d had a cliche near-death experience like she was having right now.

She was curious about what was on the other side of that door, except…

_ Rey! _

Someone was calling her name.

_ Come back! _

She latched onto the person calling for her, dragging herself back to the land of the living by using their energy signature. When she opened her eyes, she realized she was lying cradled in Ben’s arms as he frantically tried to bring her back to life before the Sith Fortress around them collapsed completely.

“Ben,” she whispered, cupping his face in her hands. “We did it.” And then she kissed him, because she knew he had a sentimentality streak inherited from his parents and she wanted to indulge him a little bit.

The kiss was far too brief—after all, the fortress was collapsing around them—but it wasn’t like they had to run back to their respective sides after this. She was all prepared to stand up and run, but when she went to grab Ben’s hand, there was nothing there.

_ What the fuck? _ she wondered, looking at the empty pile of clothing.  _ What kind of trick is the Force playing this time? _ She reached out, trying to find Ben, but the only thing she got was a sense of  _ He’s not even on this plane of existence anymore. _

The ground was rapidly growing more and more unstable. In the interest of self-preservation, Rey grabbed Ben’s clothing and ran back to where they’d parked the ships. She made it out just in time to escape Exegol’s collapse, but she wasn’t quite ready to meet back up with the Resistance yet.

She could still sense Ben out there somewhere, but it was like looking through a pane of clouded glass. There were no details, and she doubted she’d find him anywhere in the known galaxy.

There had to be a way to get through to him. The journal had always worked before, hadn’t it? Maybe it would still work now.

> **_R: i have ur clothes_ **

She penned a quick statement, then threw the journal to the floor. It was time to return to Ajan Kloss, if only so that people didn’t think she was dead.

By the time she landed on Ajan Kloss in the middle of the Resistance’s victory party, the journal was still there with no sign that it had made its way to Ben at all. So Rey tried again.

> **_R: if ur naked, i want to be there, too_ **

Still nothing. When she returned a day later, after spending the night trying to pretend that she wasn’t worried as all hell about Ben, she tried one last time. Maybe she’d have a better chance of getting through if she appealed to his sensitive, poetic nature.

Rey knew how to make words sound good. Sometimes.

> **_R: eventually, long after our tumbling forms have reached terminal velocity, the panic starts to fade, leaving only you and me, baby_ **

She threw the journal to the bottom of her bag before she started packing up her things in preparation to move on from living on a military base. It was better if she couldn’t constantly check to see if it had vanished or not. The longer she could pretend that she hadn’t lost her other half, the better.


	11. landmarks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [sext: i miss u. where r u theres no landmarks here so ill just wait 4 u](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/224381072975200256)

Ben blinked, trying to clear the haze from his mind. He was standing on a hard, flat, greyish-tan ground that stretched out as far as he could see around him in every direction. The sky was a lighter shade of the same greyish-tan color with no clouds, satellites, or stars to give any indication of what was above him.

Where the hell was he, and how had he gotten here?

He frowned at the neverending horizon, trying to retrace his last steps. There had been a fight, he knew that much. A big one. Like, the kind of fight that ended a war. There had been a  _ lot _ of lightning involved, although he wasn’t sure that was what had injured him. Because he  _ had _ been injured.

Right?

He shook his head, turning around as if staring at a different point on the same flat horizon would give him an answer.

Okay, so there was a fight with lots of lightning, but he hadn’t been fighting alone. No, he’d been with—”Rey,” he gasped as everything came rushing back to him. He reached out with the Force, searching for the link that bound them together. It hadn’t been severed. He could tell that much. But he couldn’t find anything in the Force.

Because everything  _ was _ the Force.

Oh. Shit. “I’m floating around the netherworld of the Force, aren’t I,” he said to no one in particular.

Unsurprisingly, there was no reply.

So Ben did what he did best: he raged. He screamed at the sky, kicked at the ground, and wished he had an actual punching bag of some sort to work with. Stomping around just wasn’t quite the same as destroying a control panel with a lightsaber.

Eventually, he burned himself out and flopped down on the ground, staring up at the blank, beige sky. “Fuck,” he mumbled, wondering how the hell he was going to get out of this one.

Rey. She had to be the key. Find Rey, and he’d find a way out of here. He didn’t think she’d wound up in the netherworld of the Force after how hard he fought to bring her back from death after her grandfather nearly offed her.

With a sigh, he pushed himself to his feet. He wasn’t hungry or tired at all (which was a relief, because where the hell was he supposed to find food in the World Between Worlds?), but he was too antsy to just lie on the ground until something happened.

Without any better ideas, he picked a direction and started walking. Without chronos or stars to mark the passage of time, there was no way to know how long he was on his feet until he tripped over something small that caused him to stumble. “What the—” he hissed, but he paused when he realized what he was looking at.

_ The journal. _

He bent down and frantically tore through its pages, looking for the latest entry.

> **_R: i refuse to believe you’re not coming back. no one’s ever really gone._ **

Ben would have been lying if he’d said that he wasn’t a little gratified to know that Rey missed him, but he couldn’t bear the thought of letting her go one more minute without hearing from him.

> _ B: i miss u. where r u theres no landmarks here so ill just wait 4 u _

The journal vanished as soon as he closed it, leaving Ben full of hope for the first time since waking up in this void of nothingness.

He started walking again, secure in his knowledge that the journal would find him wherever he went. If he was still connected to Rey, that meant there was a way out of here.

Together, the two of them would figure it out. Of that, he was absolutely certain.


	12. the hungry look

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [sext: the hungry look in your eyes is really starting to freak the abyss out](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/257193100500410368)

Rey had survived her many years of hardship on Jakku thanks to her ability to pick up and master things quickly and her philosophy of “always look on the bright side of life.”

In this case, the bright side was that Ben wasn’t dead. Not really. Yes, there was the matter of him being trapped in the World Between Worlds, but at least they had the journal.

> _ B: if theres anyone else here, theyre going to think im a total pervert thanks to ur messages _
> 
> **_R: ur welcome <3_ **
> 
> _ B: im welcome less than three? _
> 
> **_R: its a heart, ben._ **
> 
> _ B: oh. _
> 
> _ B: <3 _

Rey had considerably more resources at her disposal than Ben did, so she took it upon herself to go on a research craze to find a way to get him back into the world of the living. People had been studying the Force for tens of thousands of years. Surely they weren’t the first beings to find themselves in this position.

While en route to Coruscant, she pored through the sacred Jedi texts, even though she didn’t think she’d read anything on Force dyads or the World Between Worlds during the months she was training with Leia. By the time she arrived at the remains of the Jedi Temple of the Old Republic, she was incredibly overtired, horny, and hopped up on caffeine. It wasn’t exactly the best mental state for writing love letters to her missing soulmate, but she didn’t let that stop her.

> **_R: i love u i miss u i’m looking for answers i swear i’ll find u again the force can’t keep us apart forever_ **
> 
> _ B: the hungry look in your eyes is really starting to freak the abyss out _
> 
> **_R: i will tear the abyss to shreds with my bare hands if it means bringing u home_ **
> 
> _ B: i have never been so scared of or so horny for you _

Even though she knew she’d never have to scavenge for parts to survive again, Rey’s hard-earned scavenger instincts were so deeply entrenched in her that she was never going to be rid of them completely. It made wandering through the remains of the Jedi Temple difficult, as she wanted to stop and catalog every single thing she found.

She was amazed to realize that it wasn’t solely because she felt the need to steal in order to survive. What she actually wanted was to share all of her findings with Ben. As she searched for answers in the long-abandoned Jedi Archives, she found herself imagining how the conversation would go if she had Ben by her side, even if he had to tag along as a Force ghost.

_ What do you think this was for? _ he’d ask when she picked up some sort of tool she didn’t recognize.

_ I’m not sure, _ she’d reply.  _ Maybe it was for making lightsabers. _

_ You don’t need tools like that to make lightsabers. I’ll teach you. _

(That imaginary conversation had ended in tears when she thought about how eager he’d been to take her on as a student the first time they’d fought on Starkiller Base all those months ago.)

She didn’t find any answers to the specific question she was asking, but she did find something of interest buried in all of the old records.

A list of newly christened padawans from 32 BBY, which had one listing of particular interest to Rey:

_ Anakin Skywalker. Homeworld: Tatooine. _

She tucked the datatape containing that information in her bag and kept looking, an idea brewing in her mind.

Neither Luke nor Leia had really discussed their birth parents. With Luke, there simply hadn’t been time, and it had been a sore subject that Leia had refused to discuss in detail.

(In retrospect, Rey suspected that another talent she and the General had shared was an ability to compartmentalize so strongly they could conveniently forget details like parentage and bloodlines.)

However, she knew that Ben had idolized Darth Vader while he’d identified as Kylo Ren, so she couldn’t contain her curiosity about Anakin Skywalker. Even if that didn’t lead to any answers about how to bring Ben back, it was something he’d probably enjoy seeing once he returned.

> **_R: i have a present for u for when u return_ **
> 
> _ B: is it u? _
> 
> **_R: well yes, but i have something else, too._ **
> 
> _ B: all i need is u, my love <3 _
> 
> **_R: focus, ben. we have work to do._ **


	13. not the ideal hole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [sext: ur not in the ideal hole but def not the worst 1 either](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/268580844699009024)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fyi the chapters just weirder from here on, enjoy

The more time Rey spent digging through what was left of the old Jedi Archives, the more she wanted Ben to see it.

Oh, if only the answer to bringing Ben back from the World Between Worlds was simply that she could wish him back!

It was a small consolation that they still had a way to communicate, but she didn’t think she had the ability to distill all of her thoughts about the old Jedi Archives into words.

What she  _ could _ distill into words, on the other hand, was the sheer level of sexual frustration she was feeling.

> **_R: i can’t stop thinking about the way u feel underneath me. the way u feel as i ride ur cock. the sounds u make when u come._ **
> 
> _ B: i’m not even certain i have an actual body right now and somehow ur words still make all the blood in my body rush to my dick _
> 
> **_R: good._ **
> 
> **_R: but actually, tell me more about ur dick right now_ **

Days turned into weeks, and still she found no answers in the old Jedi Archives. The most promising thing she’d found was the datatape with some records of Anakin Skywalker’s time as a padawan. Rey didn’t have the emotional connection to him that Ben had, but as she grew more and more discouraged by her attempt to hunt for information in the archives, she found herself thinking about the datatape. She didn’t want to sift through its contents without Ben, but she was running out of ideas.

_ Anakin Skywalker. Homeworld: Tatooine _

_ Padawan Skywalker’s placement with newly knighted Obi-Wan Kenobi is controversial among the Jedi Council. Some feel he is too old to begin training, having spent the first nine years of his life with his mother on Tatooine. _

_ The late Master Qui-Gon Jinn found Skywalker during an unplanned maintenance stop while protecting Queen Amidala of Naboo during the invasion by the Trade Federation in 32 BBY. He believed that Skywalker is the Chosen One whose destiny it was to bring balance to the Force. Master Jinn’s dying wish was that his padawan, Obi-Wan, would take on Skywalker as his own padawan. _

_ The most curious thing about Skywalker’s upbringing, according to Master Jinn, was that he has no father. His mother, a slave named Shmi Skywalker, claims that she is unsure of how she came to be pregnant in the first place. This only fueled Master Jinn’s belief that Anakin Skywalker is the Chosen One. _

_ Why the Force chose a slave on a sparsely-populated Outer Rim planet remains a mystery. We can only trust that the Force knows what it’s doing and that it created Anakin Skywalker for a reason. _

Rey couldn’t believe her eyes. This sounded like something out of a tabloid rather than an official Jedi Order record. Did Ben know about any of this?

She shook her head. That wasn’t the important question right now. What caught her attention was the fact that supposedly, the Force was Anakin’s father.

Which meant that the Force was Ben’s great-grandfather.

How the  _ kriff _ was that actually possible?

Rey knew that the Force worked in mysterious ways—her own existence was proof of that—but it seemed strange that the Force would let its own great-grandchild languish in the World Between Worlds when the other half of his Force dyad still lived.

Maybe that was the secret, then. Go back to Tatooine where it all began.

She hung around Coruscant for a few more days, making preparations for a trip to an Outer Rim dirtball. Months ago, when she’d finally accepted that there was nothing left for her on Jakku, she’d sworn that she’d never set foot on another desert planet again. So much for that promise.

Planning for her journey to Tatooine was so consuming that she barely noticed that Ben’s messages had slowed down. Early on in their dimension-spanning correspondence, he’d mentioned that he wasn’t sure how fast time passed in the World Between Worlds. Every time he sent a message, he had no way to know if it had been minutes, days, or even years since the last one. It was infuriating to have so little control, but Rey appreciated that she wasn’t too distracted to be as efficient as possible right now.

It seemed there was very little in the way of entertainment in the World Between Worlds, however.

> _ B: fuck, i miss u. i miss ur smile. i miss the way u kiss me. i miss the way you moan my name as im buried deep inside u. _
> 
> **_R: tell me about it. my fingers just arent the same as urs._ **
> 
> _ B: pretend we’re together right now. i run my hands over ur body, making u shiver with anticipation. _
> 
> **_R: go on_ **
> 
> _ B: my lips soon follow, kissing every square inch of ur skin as we slowly remove our clothing. _
> 
> **_R: yes. please_ **
> 
> _ B: i can’t get enough of ur. i put my fingers in ur mouth. _

She’d been enjoying the exchange, using Ben’s words as a way to help her pass the time as she traveled through the galaxy. But something about the last message took her out of the fantasy just a little bit. She was...well, she hated to say it, but she was a little disappointed.

> **_R: ur not in the ideal hole but def not the worst 1 either_ **
> 
> _ B: i thought u said u missed my fingers _

Rey could practically hear the hurt in his tone. Even though she had no idea how much time had passed for him since he’d sent that, she rushed to reassure him.

He could have tried to stick his fingers up her nose, after all.

> **_R: i mean u could stick them in my vagina. while ur mouth is busy with my clit. just a thought._ **
> 
> _ B: oh. OH. _
> 
> **_R: thats what i thought :) im almost on tatooine now._ **
> 
> _ B: have u been checking the holonet for things to sext again? _
> 
> **_R: no. i think the answer to bringing u back may lie with the place the skywalker line began._ **


	14. see how it feels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [sext: when you stare into the abyss eventually you think maybe you could just put the tip in & see how it feels](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/213730368019369984)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this, uh...goes places. new york city released an official [“covid safe sex guidelines”](https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/imm/covid-sex-guidance.pdf) handout that legit says “Make it a little kinky. Be creative with sexual positions and physical barriers, like walls, that allow sexual contact while preventing close face to face contact.” and then i couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that the city of new york is endorsing glory hole sex.
> 
> enjoy.

Being dead was really, really, really kriffing boring.

Actually, Ben wasn't even sure he was technically dead if he was trapped in the World Between Worlds like this. There hadn't been much in the way of Force Ghost 101 during his education. And with no way to tell how much time had passed, the only way he could rely on remembering his own identity was the journal with Rey's messages that popped in and out of existence at random.

It was gratifying to know that she was on the hunt for a way to bring him back, but it made him feel completely useless due to his own inability to look for answers anywhere. She kept him up-to-date on what she was doing, but she didn't go into too many details. She might have, if their messages didn't tend to get so...frisky.

> **_R: did u really just say "frisky." what are we, loth cats?_ **
> 
> _ B: do u have a better word? _
> 
> **_R: hot horny antsy curious thirsty eager aroused. for starters._ **
> 
> _ B: ok, ok, i get the message. _
> 
> **_R: irregardless, its nice to know u still want me_ **

He refrained from pointing out that "irregardless" wasn't a real word in favor of reassuring her that yes, despite being on a completely separate plane of existence, he still wanted her. Badly.

> **_R: whats it like there?_ **
> 
> _ B: dull. there's nothing around me. no one here. i don't even know how much time has passed. _
> 
> **_R: too much time for my liking :( its been a few weeks._ **
> 
> And then one day (or maybe one minute? One hour? One century? Who knew?) the Force—or whatever it was that kept control of this place—decided to switch things up, just to fuck with Ben.
> 
> _ B: update: i still don't think im properly alive, but im no longer where i was _
> 
> **_R: ?_ **
> 
> _ B: since i woke up after the fight on exegol, i was in a place that was dull and beige and just full of nothingness. now im in a place full of holes. _
> 
> **_R: im sorry did u say holes_ **
> 
> _ B: yep _
> 
> **_R: what the kriff_ **
> 
> _ B: yep _

It was a strange landscape. The ground was still solid enough, but there were tiny holes all over it, and there were even more holes in the sky. Although maybe it wasn't the sky. Maybe it was the ceiling of a building so big that it took up the entire skyline. Ben had seen weirder feats of architecture.

> **_R: im having a really hard time picturing what it looks like there_ **
> 
> _ B: they're all sorts of holes. dirt holes, perfect holes, squished holes, circle holes, square holes, big holes, small holes, live holes, dead holes. _
> 
> **_R: wow. can u fit in any of them?_ **

He had yet to see any holes that were big enough for him to fit through (and apparently he had a physical enough body that he couldn't simply float through them). At least one of them had to bring him back home to where Rey was waiting for him.

> _ B: i haven't seen any that are big enough yet, but ill keep looking _

At least the landscape was more interesting here. The place he’d been before was just miles and miles of endless beige nothingness, but here there were colorful boulders (full of holes, of course) to add some variety to the scenery.

After an indeterminate amount of time that could have been minutes or could have been days, the holes began to take on a more sensual appearance. Initially, Ben interpreted it as an extension of how badly he missed Rey that was causing him to project onto the immaculate world around him, but then he passed by a hole that was clearly a human mouth at a suspiciously convenient height for, uh,  _ lewd _ activities.

> _ B: ur not gonna believe this. i think there r people here in the holes. _
> 
> **_R: maybe they’re gateways? did u see one that u could fit in?_ **
> 
> _ B: i havent seen one that i could fit my entire body through, but i am fairly certain i just passed a human vagina  _
> 
> **_R: when you stare into the abyss eventually you think maybe you could just put the tip in & see how it feels _ **
> 
> _ B: somehow i dont think thats going to work _

It wasn’t entirely clear whether Rey had been joking or not, but Ben felt like fucking a wall was a hard pass if he couldn’t guarantee she wasn’t on the other side of it. There had to be a better answer than that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm saying "thanks, i hate it" @ myself so feel free to do the same


	15. 20 billion gaping holes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [sext: 20 billion gaping holes and only three of them yours](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/215092416481460224)

So far, Tatooine hadn’t brought Rey any answers. She’d checked out the major settlements (calling them “cities” seemed optimistic, but then again, she was from Jakku so it wasn’t like she was in any position to judge), but she found no luck there. Eventually, she’d found her way to the Lars homestead where Luke had grown up, but that turned out to simply be an old moisture farm half-buried in the sand.

What she did find on Tatooine, however, were dreams.

She couldn’t remember the details upon waking up, but considering how she woke up—aching, wet, and on the verge of a hands-free orgasm—they were definitely sexual in nature.

> **_R: do u sleep? i keep having weird dreams and i think theyre about u_ ** _   
>  _
> 
> _ B: no, it’s just endless walking. and endless holes. _
> 
> **_R: weird_ **
> 
> _ B: why do u think the dreams are about me? _
> 
> **_R: because i always wake up horny as fuck_ **
> 
> _ B: im flattered that u blame me for that <3 _
> 
> **_R: i want to believe i can reach u in my dreams while we search for a way to fix this so that we can have hot hot dream sex_ **
> 
> _ B: well im certainly having no sex right now so i dont think it’s working _

It was just—so  _ strange. _ Ben hadn’t been very descriptive about all of the holes, but a week after she landed in Mos Espa, Rey swore she actually remembered one of the dreams where she and Ben were trapped on opposite sides of a barrier of some sort.

With conveniently located holes.

> **_R: ur weird perv surroundings have started to penetrate my dreams_ **
> 
> _ B: please dont use the word penetrate _
> 
> **_R: definitely just dreamed about holes and u_ **
> 
> _ B: 20 billing gaping holes and only three of them yours _

It was uncertain whether Ben was trying to be poetic or not. The sad thing was, Rey actually did find it sweet.

> **_R: i wish_ **
> 
> _ B: me too :( _

After a week and a half of scavenging around the old Lars homestead, Rey had found a surprising amount of things worth trading. (Apparently, Tatooine was sophisticated enough to not need to rely on scavengers picking everything apart. So it was a step up from Jakku in that respect.) She hadn’t, however, found any answers.

> **_R: i don’t know what i was thinking. theres nothing useful on tatooine._ **
> 
> _ B: i could have told u that _
> 
> **_R: :(_ **
> 
> _ B: so what happens now? _
> 
> **_R: i think i know someone i can ask for help_ **

Tatooine was kriffing useless, but Takodana? Maz Kanata had her hands full with everything she’d done to help the Resistance during the final days of the war, but she’d gone back to Takodana to finish rebuilding her castle. Rey had never discussed what had happened on Exegol with anyone else, but Maz seem to have known it was more complicated than “Palpatine is finally dead and his creepy Sith citadel is now dust.”

“If you ever need any help,” she’d told Rey before departing Ajan Kloss, “you know where to find me on Takodana. My doors are always open for you.”

The idea of going back to the place that had started her on this whole journey was unsettling. What else did Maz have hiding in her basement that might call out to Rey, giving her more frightening visions?

But then again, she reminded herself, it wasn’t like she was going to get caught off-guard by anything to do with the Force.

She hoped.

Rey was careful to leave a couple of things in the abandoned moisture farm just in case the Force decided to dump Ben out on his ancestor’s homeland. By the time she was punching the coordinates for Takodana into her ship, the journal had materialized again with a new message from Ben.

> _ B: oh kriff it’s not the force ghost of my uncle, is it? _

She smiled despite herself.

> **_R: no, don ‘t worry. i’m going back to where we began._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i promise this is the end of the glory hole jokes


	16. thrust all the way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [sext: i thrust all the way into you and disappear](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/272236886054039552)

The landscape of the World Between Worlds, or wherever he was, kept changing. Ben couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief when he realized he’d left the last of the lewd holes behind, even if it did mean he was once again in a barren landscape of nothingness. At least the nothingness this time was grey instead of beige, so there was a little novelty to it.

> _ B: im somewhere new now. i think this might mean im closer to getting out of here. _
> 
> **_R: that’s the best news i’ve heard all day_ **
> 
> _ B: i assume i’ll just manifest wherever you are, right? since we’re a force dyad _
> 
> **_R: let’s hope so. id crawl the galaxy looking for you if it came to it, though._ **
> 
> _ B: how does it feel to be the one chasing me down for once? _
> 
> **_R: ha ha. come home, u nerfherder <3_ **

There still were no signposts or landmarks of any sort, but Ben swore that he was getting closer and closer to  _ something _ , even though he wasn’t entirely certain what that something was. It made logical sense that it would be Rey, but she didn’t say anything about feeling him approach.

> **_R: what do u mean, u feel me?_ **
> 
> _ B: u don’t feel it? like im following a trail and at the end it leads to u _
> 
> **_R: maybe im blocked by the force?_ **
> 
> _ B: maybe. i don’t know. _

The conversation was starting to get a little too serious for comfort, especially considering the general misery that accompanied being separated from the other half of his soul, so Ben decided to liven it up a bit.

> _ B: i thrust all the way into you and disappear _
> 
> **_R: u think we can bang like this? like, through this notebook?_ **
> 
> _ B: we are not cutting a hole in this for my dick. _
> 
> _ B: no. _
> 
> _ B: more. _
> 
> _ B: kriffing. _
> 
> _ B: holes. _
> 
> _ B: (unless theyre urs) _
> 
> **_R: fair enough. i just got to takodana anyway._ **
> 
> _ B: takodana? _

He flipped back through the notebook, trying to find a mention of Rey’s travel plans. The idea that she was going back to the place they’d met without him hurt, for some reason. Not that he’d ever planned on returning there, especially after the way he’d left it, but the parallel of returning to Takodana by Rey’s side was something the poet in him couldn’t resist thinking about.

> **_R: im asking maz kanata for help. i won’t mention how u destroyed her castle._ **
> 
> _ B: wow, thanks _
> 
> **_R: ur job is to keep following that trail back to me :)_ **
> 
> _ B: yes ma’am :) _

He could feel it getting closer now. The landscape around him was starting to look slightly less grey. The sky above him was developing a bright blue tint, and the ground around him was looking more and more yellow. The texture was changing as well, becoming looser and grittier. Almost like…

Sand. This was sand.

Ben could practically taste the fresh, dry air of a desert planet around him as he pushed his way through the last of the fog surrounding the World Between Worlds. It took a literal punch through a wall of glass framed by a rough stone archway for him to get free, the hot, dry, desert climate hitting him all at once.

Literally hitting him; he was naked in either the start or the end of a sandstorm.

“KRIFF.”

He spotted a structure that looked like it might provide cover, so he sprinted for it, praying that if there was anything in there, it was friendly. Having use of the Force would only get him so far if he couldn’t find clothes, never mind armor and a weapon.  _ Rey, _ he thought, reaching out through the Force as he found a safe, sandstorm-free room in what looked to be an abandoned moisture farm.  _ Rey, Rey, Rey, Rey, Rey. _

There wasn’t much of value in the old moisture farm that he could find on his initial run-through. There was nothing alive, and although it looked like it had been cleaned out somewhat recently, it seemed to be completely abandoned. It wasn’t until the next morning, after the sandstorm died down, that Ben was able to do a little more exploring.

Outside of the corner of the structure he’d spent the night in, there were a few more areas of the small moisture farm, including one with a cleanly-folded set of clothes and a handwritten note:

_ ben,  _

_ i don’t think the answer lies in waiting for u here. but just in case the force drops u off here on the skywalker homeworld instead of by my side, heres a clean set of clothes and enough credits to hitch a ride to takodana, where i plan to wait for u. i know we have our own method of communication, but we both know it has a mind of its own so im leaving u this message just in case u see this first. i love u. i cant wait to be by ur side again. _

_ <3 rey _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let's be real ben would 100% punch a hole in the universe in his quest to find rey


	17. skin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [sext: my skin cant contain my love 4 u](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/275448682910990336)

It was nice for Rey to have the forethought to leave him clothes and some credits, Ben thought. He had no way of knowing how much time had passed since Rey had left Tatooine, and his only method for contacting her had a mind of its own and therefore was less reliable than they needed right now.

Ben didn’t linger at the Lars homestead. As soon as it was safe to venture out, he made his way to the closest spaceport using a dilapidated, cobbled-together speeder that had Rey written all over it. Yet another thing she’d done to ease his journey back to her.

He was able to haggle for a ride to the Cerean system, which wasn’t exactly Takodana but was much closer than what Ben could accomplish on his own. Rey hadn’t left him much, but Ben was in no mood to wait around for a better offer. He’d sleep in the engine room if necessary, as long as he could get to Takodana as soon as possible. He had the journey from Tatooine to Cerea to figure out how to get to Takodana, in any case.

The journal didn’t materialize until after the ship took off with Ben curled up on a bunk that was too small for him. He was exhausted, but knowing that he was so close to being by Rey’s side in a post-war galaxy made him too antsy to get comfortable. He tossed and turned until one of the other passengers snarled at him to shut up, at which point Ben gave up on sleeping and decided to see if there was a dejarik table somewhere.

Half an hour later, Ben was shuffling back to the guest quarters after having been chewed out by various crew members for getting in the way. To his complete and utter relief, the journal was waiting on his bunk as soon as he got back.

> **_R: i felt a disturbance in the force. is it u??_ **
> 
> _ B: i got ur message on tatooine and im headed for the cerean system now :) _
> 
> **_R: F I N A L L Y_ **
> 
> **_R: is it weird inhabiting a physical body again?_ **
> 
> _ B: not really. mostly it’s a relief. _
> 
> _ B: mostly. _
> 
> **_R: i cant believe ur almost here_ **
> 
> _ B: i can’t believe i had to literally punch a hole in the universe to wind up on tatooine _
> 
> **_R: my skin cant contain my love 4 u_ **
> 
> _ B: mine either <3 _

(If he had been capable of thinking more objectively where Rey was concerned, he might have commented on the strangeness of the image of someone’s body flying to pieces due to emotion. Alas, he simply saw it as yet another sign that they were each others’ equals in both the Force and in temperament.)

> _ B: what do u think its going to be like when were together? _
> 
> **_R: aside from lots and lots and lots of sex?_ **
> 
> _ B: glad we’re in agreement about the endless amounts of sex _
> 
> **_R: honestly, i don’t even know. i’m not sure what my life will look like with u by my side in a post-war galaxy._ **
> 
> _ B: oh _
> 
> **_R: but i cant wait to find out <3_ **

As Ben’s journey neared its final destination, there was one more conversation they needed to have:

> _ B: do u still want to send messages like this once we’re no longer apart? _

He never got a response before his journey ended in the Cerean system, where a certain Force-bound scavenger was already waiting for him. That was okay. He’d find out, soon enough, anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Cerea](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Cerea)


	18. ur tongue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [sext: i dont know where ur tongue begins but i like where its ending](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/594380819709480961)

Rey could barely hold it together as she paced around in front of her ship, waiting for it to refuel. Why, oh  _ why _ hadn’t she bothered to keep the ship in a ready-to-go state? Having to take the extra time to prepare was agonizing when she knew that Ben was out there waiting for her to go pick him up.

> _ B: we’ll be together soon <3 _
> 
> **_R: soon can’t come quickly enough_ **

She barely ran through the required safety checks before taking off and punching in the coordinates for the spaceport on Cerea where Ben was waiting. Once she was in flight, she grabbed for the journal to see Ben’s latest message. She’d been so antsy that even the action of tripping over the journal as it magically reappeared in her path had been enough to make her screech in frustration, cursing in five different languages as she realized what she’d stumbled over.

> _ B: u never did answer my question _
> 
> **_R: what question_ **
> 
> _ B: do u want to keep this journal once we’re no longer apart? _

The question hit her hard enough that she actually paused to think about it. Her immediate response was  _ No, because we’re never going to be apart again _ , but that simply wasn’t realistic. Aside from the complicated way she was going to have to introduce him to her friends, it wasn’t healthy for the two of them to spend literally every minute of their life together. Boundaries were important, and she needed to remember that.

Ben seemed to have come to a slightly different conclusion because immediately after that was another message:

> _ B: i realize the question implies that we may be separated again which is not my intent. i want to make it very clear that i want to spend the rest of my life with u if u’ll have me. _

If Rey had grown up in the kind of society that Ben and most of her friends in the group formerly known as the Resistance were from, she would have recognized the stealthy marriage proposal for what it was. Which was too bad for Ben, but she had no way of knowing that.

It didn’t change her answer, in any case.

> **_R: i will definitely have u :)_ **
> 
> **_R: and i like the journal. it’s fun to talk this way. i can’t do this with anyone else, only with u._ **
> 
> _ B: i dont know where ur tongue begins but i like where its ending _

It was an objectively strange combination of words, but Rey knew exactly what he meant.

> **_R: i love u, too <3_ **

Finally, after struggling alone in the desert, surviving a war, learning that her family was evil, and losing her soulmate to the Force’s erratic whims, they were going to be together. Her heart was practically singing with joy.

No, wait, that wasn’t the sound of her heart. It was the sound of the ship’s alarms going off as it let her know in no uncertain terms that it hadn’t been ready for an inter-system journey.

“KRIFF.”

Within the next ten minutes, she fluctuated from  _ I need Ben here NOW _ to  _ oh kriff what if this is it and I die alone while racing to get Ben _ to  _ I’m going to be fine, Ben and I will fix the ship together on Cerea, I just need to focus on getting there in one piece. _

In that ten minutes, the journal had returned with another message from Ben.

> _ B: cant wait to tell u in detail how i made it out of the world between worlds. there was sand involved. _
> 
> **_R: perfect. u can tell me all about it while we fix this ship together._ **
> 
> _ B: fixing a broken ship together. how romantic. _
> 
> _ B: (that’s not even sarcasm, i really do find the idea of patching up machinery with you to be romantic) _

**_R: well, we’re about to find out soon, arent we? :)_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (definitely almost posted this with a typo here: "the coordinates for the spaceporn on Cerea." not sure what the hell my muscle memory is doing to cause _that_.)
> 
> almost there! the last two chapters are complete and will go up tomorrow and the day after :)


	19. openings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [sext: i got as many openings as u got fingers](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/652075635750342656)

Rey couldn’t think of a time in her life when she was happier. Certainly not on Jakku, and then after that...well, war wasn’t exactly conducive to living a happy life, and then she hadn’t been able to feel settled until Ben was back from the World Between Worlds. He’d claimed that he’d literally punched a hole in the universe to get back to Tatooine. Were if anyone else, Rey would call banthashit, but she knew Ben was capable of and bullheaded enough to actually do that.

To Rey’s and Ben’s surprise, Maz wasn’t surprised when Rey showed back up with him in tow after scrambling to get off-world suddenly. Considering what Ben had done last time he’d been on Takodana, she was rather gracious about it, simply telling him to get to work. “These drinks aren’t going to serve themselves,” she said, indicating the line of patrons waiting by thee bar.

“Are you sure this is the best use of my…” Watching him struggle for an appropriate word was cute. Rey was sad that she’d been robbed of this experience until now. “...expertise?”

Maz snorted. “Kriff, no, but I’d like to see you try.”

Now, they’d been on Takodana together for nearly a month, just getting to know each other outside of battle and notes scribbled in a dimension-spanning journal. Unfortunately, that couldn’t last. She woke up one morning to a comm requesting her presence on Chandrila, where the government was currently based.

“I have to be there,” she said to Ben. “But I don’t know if it’s a good idea for you to come with me just yet.”

He nodded. “I know,” he murmured. “You go. I’ll stay here. I think Maz is finally warming up to me.”

“Are you sure?” She hated the idea of parting from him, even if it was only temporary.

He seemed to understand her reluctance. “You’ll be back, and I’ll be here waiting,” he reassured her. “Besides, we have the journal, don’t we?”

She couldn’t stop her face from breaking into a smile. “Point taken.”

The journal hadn’t disappeared. They kept it stored safely in their ( _ their! _ ) shared quarters, but there wasn’t a need for passing notes when they spent nearly all of their time together. As soon as she was in hyperspace, however, Rey lunged for the shared notebook, scribbling a note to Ben.

> **_R: i miss u already_ **
> 
> _ B: <3 u’ll be back soon _
> 
> **_R: r u alone? im settling in for a long, lonely flight_ **
> 
> _ B: i am now :) _

Over time, their messaging had gotten more fluid. Rey found herself relying less and less on the HoloNet for sexy things to say; now, she knew Ben’s body as well as her own, and she knew the kinds of things that would get him hot and bothered.

> _ R: i got as many openings as u got fingers _

Ben’s reply, written so hastily that the ink was smudged, came whipping back.

> _ B: WHO HURT U ILL RIP THEM TO SHREDS _
> 
> **_R: what?_ **
> 
> _ B: i have ten fingers. _
> 
> **_R: yes. and?_ **
> 
> _ B: the last time i checked, you didnt have ten holes _

Ah. He had a point.

> **_R: im not hurt and i dont have any new holes, dont worry_ **
> 
> _ B: oh _
> 
> _ B: i know u can take care of urself & i have the scar to prove it, but if anyone hurts you on chandrila just say the word and ill avenge u _

Stars, only she and Ben could go from “sexy messaging” to violence in a single breath.

> **_R: oh, i know :)_ **
> 
> _ B: i know i carry the skywalker extra(TM) gene, but i mean that _
> 
> **_R: i carry the palpatine extra(TM) gene, so im in no position to judge_ **
> 
> _ B: what a pair we make _
> 
> **_R: i wouldnt have it any other way <3_ **


	20. kill a mask

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [sext: i guess u cant kill a mask by drowning it. anyway whatever just ignore it. u can still put a finger in me if u want](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/353922418219286529)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter's tweet was the one that sold me on this as a reylo au idea. content warning for mention of anal play in this chapter, if that's a trigger or a squick for you.

Ben had never thought he’d get a happily ever after. Hell, he still wasn’t entirely convinced this wasn’t a simulation where his body was secretly being kept in an unconscious state for, like, science or something. But Rey made it a point to remind him as much as possible how much she loved him and how happy she was that they were alive together at last.

He mostly stuck around Takodana. As far as he was aware, the New Republic still wasn’t aware that he’d come back to life. Rey hadn’t said either way if she was going to let them know, insisting that it was his choice. They both knew what could happen if the government decided to try him for his crimes, and neither of them was ready for that yet.

They could still be selfish. They’d earned it, hadn’t they?

Rey, despite her best attempts, couldn’t stay out of New Republic business forever. They’d said that she could have her space to do whatever she needed to do on Takodana, but she made regular trips to Chandrila that were only made bearable by the presence of the journal.

> **_R: im so bored. i dont know why they thought a jedi needed to be involved in these peace talks._ **
> 
> _ B: rey. theyre talking about turning the remains of the jedi temple on yavin iv into a monument. _
> 
> **_R: i wasnt even there for it!_ **
> 
> _ B: u weren’t missing much _
> 
> **_R: :(_ **
> 
> **_R: i’m sorry_ **
> 
> _ B: its ok _
> 
> **_R: its really not tho_ **

Needing to steer the conversation into less depressing waters, he dashed out the first thing that came to his mind.

> _ B: i guess u cant kill a mask by drowning it. anyway whatever just ignore it. u can still put a finger in me if u want _
> 
> **_R: see? u DO have a mask fetish. i was right!_ **
> 
> _ B: that’s not what i—forget it _
> 
> **_R: ill still finger u tho if u want ;)_ **
> 
> _ B: deal. _

Yes, Ben Solo and Rey Palpatine were finally getting their happy ending together.

Well. Actually. Rey did hate the constant reminder of who she was related to. She was on her way back to Takodana when the idea occurred to him, and he rushed to pen a message.

> _ B: u know how u were saying u hate ur family name? _
> 
> **_R: if ur trying to play “who has the worst family tree,” i think i win for life_ **
> 
> _ B: i have an idea. _
> 
> **_R: ?_ **
> 
> _ B: see u soon :) _

When she landed on Takodana, she barely let him get a word out before kissing him hello. “I’m never going to get tired of that,” she said, smiling at him.

He was never going to get tired of the way everything felt lighter when she was around.

“What was all that about family names in your last message?” she asked, her arms still wrapped around him.

Now that she was here, in front of him, he felt less certain than he had before. After all, she hadn’t really picked up his earlier hints. “It was just an idea,” he mumbled.

No. This wouldn’t do. He’d taken down an abusive master, brought his soulmate back to life, and literally punched a hole through space and time. He could handle one simple question.

“Well, you hate being Rey Palpatine,” he began. She nodded. “How does Rey Solo sound?”

Wait, was Rey even familiar with marriage traditions in Core culture? Maybe she—

“Ben Solo,” she said, grinning at him. “Are you asking me to marry you?”

Oh, phew. So she  _ was _ familiar with them. “I am.”

“We’re practically married already, aren’t we?” she pointed out. “I mean, we’ve both made it pretty damn clear that we want this to be for life, right?”

He shrugged, trying to channel the ghost of Han Solo in the nonchalance of the gesture. “Yeah, but I figured we could make it official and say good-bye to Rey Palpatine forever. Kill two birds with one stone, as they say.”

“I was really good at killing two steelpeckers with one hit on Jakku,” she said. “I love it. I love you. Let’s get married. Even if it wasn’t about letting my family name die, I want to be Rey Solo. You’re the family I choose, Ben.” She paused. “Is that—are you  _ crying? _ ”

He absolutely was. “Shut up.”

“It’s okay,” she said, brushing the tears off his cheeks. “I am, too.”

“‘Rey Solo’ just sounds so beautiful.” It was a pleasing combination of syllables, yes, but it also represented something so big and meaningful for both of them that Ben couldn’t help but get worked up about.

Rey seemed to feel the exact same way. “I have never been happier to have been kidnapped and interrogated by you than I am right now.”

_ And they lived happily ever after _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading my weird tweet-inspired reylo au - i had a lot of fun writing it and i'm so glad to hear that y'all have enjoyed it, too!
> 
> if you're curious, here are some tweets that i wanted to include but couldn't find a good way to fit in:
> 
> [sext: i vanish like a cheshire cat leaving only my smiling lips wrapped around ur dick](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/361330184873443328)  
> [sext: u ease into me & with a soft hiss the bed turns to sand](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/373286153639976961)  
> [sext: i gently work a second finger inside whatever this is](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/224286599893102592)  
> [sext: i squeeze a glob of lube into my hand and stare blankly at it for half an hour](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/250836165375164417)  
> [sext: under dim moonlight i bury my dick in the cool desert sand](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/259524776840818690)  
> [sext: as we orgasm every round thing in the house starts to roll toward us](https://twitter.com/voidsexts/status/267548009104031744)

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on [tumblr](https://radioactivesaltghoul.tumblr.com), [twitter](https://twitter.com/r_saltghoul), and [pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.social/radioactivesaltghoul).


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